Business merchant accounts are critical to have if you want to accept credit cards. Business merchant accounts are not limited to those computer consultants reselling products either. They are a good idea for any sale, especially when you are selling to new clients.

If you have a business merchant account you will not have to chase down outstanding debt. The cost is not that high and you don’t have to buy traditional credit card processing equipment. Now they have what is called a lab terminal, which allows you to use your web browser to manage the transactions. The systems are completely secure and most business merchant account providers team up with larger companies that offer great advantages.

Costco’s Business Merchant Account
One of the biggest secrets we learned about business merchant accounts is that Costco provides a fantastic deal on credit card processing through Nova Systems. It’s such a great deal it can actually pay for your entire Costco membership. Here are some particulars:
All of the monthly statement and gateway fees are waived – savings of $25 – $50 per month
Very competitive discount rates on Visa and MasterCard.
You can add on processing for American Express and Discover – you will find that even though American Express transaction fees are higher, it is a very popular card with small businesses.
The charges billed are transferred quickly and directly into your business bank account – this is a lot faster than doing your billing or invoicing once a week or so.

Paypal

Paypal is a popular alternative to traditional business merchant accounts. Paypal is very easy to set up and the set up is free. There are restrictions though on what you can do and how you can withdraw your money. The largest drawback is the negative connotation of being an ebay related service where people sell garage sale stuff as a hobby.

The Bottom Line on Business Merchant Accounts

Business merchant accounts will help you get paid faster. There are fees involved but the customer convenience and no hassle approach to receiving your money make it worthwhile. There are different business merchant accounts available so do your homework and choose the one that makes the best sense for you.

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There are over 2,500 different franchises for sale right now. Trying to choose the right one might seem like an impossible task. If you are a first time franchise purchaser, where should you begin? The answer is not easy; every franchise is unique and there are hundreds of characteristics to review. That said, certain characteristics keep popping up when we examine the best franchises.

Here are SmarterFranchises three keys to a great franchise:

1. Multi-unit Ownership
The proof is in the pudding. The best indication that a franchisee is happy with his business is if he spends more money to purchase another unit or an additional territory. The logic is the same as why Honda has such a strong reputation in the car market. If your uncle Jeff has bought three Accords in a row, Honda must be doing something right.

For the most part, multi-unit owners start with one store which becomes so successful that the want a second and so on. In order to finance a second store, a lender will examine the first store’s cash flow. If a franchise wasn’t financially viable, it would be nearly impossible to open additional units.

Multi-unit ownership is also an indication of operational efficiency in a concept. With some franchises, there is so much work that is impossible for the franchise owner to focus on anything but day to day operations. The book, “The E Myth” talks extensively about this trap of getting stuck “working in your business” vs. “working on your business.” Even if you never plan to open multiple units, this is an important characteristic, because more likely than not, you would eventually like to retire or at least take a vacation one day.

Be wary of franchise owners who explain low multi-unit ownership by suggesting franchisees make enough money with just one unit. If there is one thing history has shown, people rarely decide they have “enough” money.

2. Proven Franchisor Track Record
There are three items to think about when examining the franchisor’s track record. The first is an understanding of how much risk there is that the franchisor might go out of business. Unfortunately, many of the 2,500 franchise concepts available just won’t make it as sustainable businesses. If you purchase one of these concepts, you may lose much of your investment.

Second, the franchisor’s track record should give you an indication about the quality of the concept. Did the franchisor own several successful stores for many years before deciding to franchise his concept or did he just decide one day that there was good money in franchising so he better come up with a concept.

Third, franchisors with longer track records have more established training and support programs. While you might save a few thousand dollars buy getting into a franchise early, chances are you won’t get much for your investment. New franchisees haven’t had the time to put together development support or training programs or marketing campaigns. Also, if you are one of the first buyers, you are the guinea pig which often means more risk. Maybe a new food concept works great in a mall food court or maybe it doesn’t? Wouldn’t be nice if you weren’t the one who had to run the experiment?

3. Strong, independent franchisee association
Unfortunately, the unspoken reality is that the franchisor’s and franchisee’s interests aren’t always aligned. Eventually, there will be disagreements over finances, marketing programs or development issues. Knowing that issues are sure to arise, it is helpful to know that you will have an organized group of franchisees who can relate to your situation. Independent associations have many benefits. In addition to creating leverage for the purpose of negotiating with the franchisor, an association also can improve communication among franchisees. Independent associations also allow members to pool resources to hire competent professionals such as lawyers or financial advisors or marketing consultants. Finally, like with any organization, a collective, institutional memory is created. The AFA has an excellent article on associations on its site

It is also a negative sign if the franchisor goes out of its way to discourage an association. It usually means that the franchisor does not have the franchisees best interests in mind and is afraid of having to deal fairly with franchisees.

In addition to independent associations, franchisees may also develop a co-op to purchase goods at a discount or control a portion of the system’s advertising budget or develop a lobby group for a specific issue. All of these our good signs.

China is one of the leading countries that provide services in the software outsourcing market. Its outsourcing services market became more rational and steady in 2006, reaching 1.43 billion USD and has been growing rapidly in the international market with a year to year growth of 55.4%, which is 10% more than last year.

To grow up with an international market in software outsourcing industries, many capital firms are giving a boost to the development of software outsourcing. On the other hand, cooperation with the multinational market by the domestic software outsourcing service providers is also occurring. Also, human resource, opening customer services and customer resources as well as market environment are playing their part in the future development of the software market. Also Japanese service enterprises are expanding in China at an expedited pace.

In 2006-2007, the annual report on Chinas software outsourcing market by CCID was submitted that helped service providers, investors, capital firms and government agencies to grasp the opportunities in boosting the software outsourcing market. It is also predicted that china software market will increase rapidly with the estimated annual growth rate of 50 percent from 2005 to 2009. Thus the rapid growth of China’s software outsourcing service market is raking profits internationally in the outsourcing market. Currently, the potential with the estimate annual rate of 50% which is 10% more than last year has been maintained in the Chinese software outsourcing industry that nevertheless shares a small proportion globally.

Software business with Japan has grown 30 percent since 1996, where the country is doing business of about a 50 million. Since 2006 China has captured more than 60% of the Japanese software outsourcing market and this has been helping China make its mark globally. Chinas software industry has been growing faster since trading with Japan. In addition, the plus point could also be that the Japanese firms prefer China for the outsourcing market because they are close neighbors and have similar cultural backgrounds.

This has increased the overall demand as well since European and US companies have been enlarging their cooperation and trade with China and this has the same fallout effect of nurturing the image of the Chinese software outsourcing industry.

Analyzing the rapid growth in providing the services in the field of software outsourcing market, Japanese outsourcers are much more co operative in providing or dealing with their Chinese partners, it helps in boosting globally the software service market.